Genesis: Falling Angel Read Free Page B

challenged.
    “No, but your right is denied regardless.”
    Murmurs rose up from the council. I couldn’t tell if they were whispering over my initial volunteering or Gabriel taking over afterwards.
    After a few closing words and prayers, the council left. I was angry that no one wished to help. I was the only one fully willing to go to earth, to risk a trip to Hell and a brief human life filled with agony. Yet I was unable to go. I was angry with Gabriel, who had volunteered only to deny my going. I was an angel. Perhaps I was not among the first angels, but a true angel nonetheless. It was my job to be a messenger or warrior, whatever God and humanity most needed me to be.
    Gabriel was the last to leave, and I cornered him, pushing him back into the council room. I closed the door, turning to face him. He looked irritated. His arms were crossed over his chest, his muscles tense. His feathers looked slightly ruffled.
    “What is it? Is it the images you saw?” His expression softened a bit, and he gripped my shoulders. “They can’t touch you. You’re safe here.”
    “Why did you throw away my offer?” I demanded. “I’m ready to experience an eternity of torment to save them. It is our duty to protect and guide them, and no one else was willing.”
    “Gabrielle, you don’t understand what you’re saying. You don’t understand the concept of eternity like I do. You don’t know what torment is. You’ve never known pain, or irrational rage, or despair. Your emotions are but weakened echoes of what human forms possess. If you die as a human, you enter Hell as a human. You don’t understand what that feels like.”
    I ignored the comment on Hell for the moment. “And you do?” I snapped, breaking free of his grip. “Only recently, you didn’t care what happened on earth. What’s changed? Were you ordered to take this mission yourself?”
    He said nothing. His hand grasped my arm pulling me to him. His fingers brushed over my wings, stroking the black feathers gently. They did not disappear this time. It was as though he truly liked them for once, and I was filled with joy at the thought.
    Still, I was tense in his embrace, too stunned to respond in any way. Affection was not common amongst our kind. Gabriel upheld the rule best of all. He’d always flinched at the slightest contact with me.
    “I will not let anything happen to you,” he said softly. “I fought too hard for you, went so long without you. You’re mine, Gabrielle. You’re the only thing that I believe truly is. Please, don’t torment me with your defiance. You belong in Heaven, and I will sacrifice myself to ensure that you remain here.”
    His lips brushed my forehead, and then he released me. “No more of this,” he said, catching my gaze.
    “No more,” I whispered.
    He smiled then, and I couldn’t help but return it. It faded the moment he left, and I held up the crystal bottle he’d kept in his robe. I was unsure as to why he hadn’t noticed me grab it, or why he embraced me for so long. Guilt gnawed at me now, as I knew that he treasured me so dearly. However, if I hadn’t been sure that I was the one meant to go before, I certainly was now. Despite Gabriel’s words swimming in my head, I uncorked the bottle.
    Food and drink were not needed in Heaven. At times, humans would partake in eating or drinking just as echoes of their earthly lives. I had never tried anything the humans ate or drank, and the black liquid looked like nothing I’d seen before. I sniffed the opening of the bottle. No odor.
    I drank the contents quickly, just as the door opened. Gabriel and Michael entered. They must have suspected. They must have decided to run back to stop me, but it was too late. Upon seeing the crystal bottle in my hand, Gabriel ran to me. I felt strange suddenly, as though I was no longer solid.
    It was then that I felt pain. It was brutal, ripping through me like some sort of purging fire. I screamed and screamed as Gabriel held